April 17, 2022
"Popular Science China - I Am a Scientist" will hold the 37th event
"A Healthy Line of Defense"
Speakers in this issue
Qin Chuan
Professor and researcher of the Institute of Medical Laboratory Animals, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College
Qin Chuan teaser video:
In 1984, Qin Chuan came to the Institute of Medical Laboratory Animals of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences. Before that, Qin Chuan was studying clinical medicine, and suddenly turned to animal pathology, which was inevitably confused. "There are many problems in the work, we see, but we can't explain, there is not even a decent book in the library, and I don't know how to learn it if I want to learn."
Confused, Qin Chuan met Gu Fangzhou, the predecessor of the Medical Academy, "Sugar Pill Grandpa". "We were eating in a cafeteria, and I asked him, why do we people come here every day to raise rats? Are we bad at being doctors? ”
Laboratory mice | Wikimedia Commons, Rama / CC BY-SA 2.0（https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/fr/deed.en）
Gu Fangzhou told her such a story.
In the early days of reform and opening up, Chinese scientists saw the following line when translating foreign literature.
Mouse-C57BL/6
Mouse everyone understands, is a mouse. But what do the numbers in the back line mean? Whether it's a professor or a student, no one knows. I don't understand it, but the translation work still has to be done: "The university teacher has taught you that if you can't translate it, put it in the right grammar position and move it over unchanged." ”
In this way, the Mouse-C57BL/6 is written as it is in the Chinese translation of the paper. It wasn't until, once a foreign scientist came to communicate, that everyone understood that this was originally the name of the mouse, and the number behind it meant its genetic background, color, and output laboratory.
The scarcity of experimental animal models in China is evident. "At that time, our scientists were doing experiments and would say that I did arteriosclerosis with big white rats, did family planning research with big white rats, and I did almost all the work with big white rats. As long as it is a Chinese study, it is either a big white rat or a small white rat. ”
However, laboratory animals can be said to be the basis for vaccines, drug research and development, pathological research, and the foundation of the life sciences building. Without a foundation, even if the tall buildings are dazzling, they can easily collapse.
At that time, Shen Qizhen, the president of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, was once the minister of health of the New Fourth Army, with a strategic vision, and soon established the Institute of Medical Laboratory Animals, recruiting troops and recruiting talents, and Qin Chuan was one of them.
As for how to build this discipline, Gu Fangzhou told Qin Chuan: "Our generation does not know, we just see this problem, how to do it, it should be your work, you have to study." ”
Because of the lack of information, Gu Fangzhou and other seniors of the Medical Academy appealed that foreign guests come to visit again and ask them to bring books and materials. During the translation process, Qin Chuan slowly glimpsed the doorway.
Later, with the support of the National Science and Technology Commission (now the Ministry of Science and Technology), the Institute of Medical Laboratory Animals imported more than 50 strains of rats and mice from the WHO. "Those more than 50 strains of animals all have names, followed by an ID card, some are suitable for metabolic research, some are suitable for infectious disease research, and some are suitable for heart disease, which really opens our eyes." We were responsible for translating the instructions for these animal models. ”
Unfortunately, for various reasons, these animal models ended up surviving only half of them. In 2003, the SARS outbreak, Qin Chuan's team urgently needed to screen out animal models suitable for SARS infection. "At that time, there were only two dozen strains left, SARS was a strange virus, we really didn't know which animal was suitable, we could only infect them all, try it." However, each animal infection method is different, because the respiratory structure of mice, rats, and monkeys is different, and the degree of infection difficulty is also different. In the face of a variety of animals, in order to save time and improve efficiency, I first do experimental design, and then do a fine division of labor, go hand in hand. ”
In fact, in the early days of SARS, Qin Chuan wanted to lead the team into the P3 laboratory (biosecurity protection level three laboratory), and there were many people in the team who opposed it. This is a new virus, and the mode of transmission, the fatality rate, and the treatment method are all unknown. Once you enter the laboratory, you have to wear heavy protective clothing, work for 4 hours continuously, come out and rest for a few minutes, and then go in, and work for more than ten hours, which is a normal thing. Moreover, it is necessary to maintain a high degree of mental concentration throughout the whole process, because after the animal is infected, it is easy to become irritable, and the risk of catching and biting people will become greater. This is a silent battlefield and an invisible frontline of epidemic prevention.
But seeing that SARS was raging, the experiment must be promoted, and as the director, Qin Chuan selected 5 or 6 people to enter the laboratory. "Several of us are mentors, have basic common sense, go into the lab is nothing, and spend more than 18 hours a day in the lab. But after 6 months, everyone couldn't move. On the selection of students into the laboratory, fortunately, a mature work system has been established, teachers work in the front line, and students have played a good auxiliary role. ”
Qin Chuan and the team's efforts were not in vain, they found a most suitable animal model, and also evaluated the world's first SARS vaccine. Although the vaccine was not used because of the sudden disappearance of SARS, the technology and animal models of the vaccine have been well preserved and continuously improved. "In the later stage, every time I encountered an infectious disease, H5N1, avian influenza, H7N9, the first model came out of here."
For many years, in Qin Chuan's laboratory, the confrontation with disease has never stopped, and there are always people stationed on the invisible front line of epidemic prevention.
In the invisible frontline of epidemic prevention, there are always people stationed at the | pixnio
In 2019, the COVID-19 outbreak broke out. On December 31, Qin Chuan held a meeting at the Medical Academy, heard the hospital leaders say that there was a virus of SARS, and under the instructions of the hospital leaders, she immediately called the laboratory and asked everyone to stand by...
What did they do in the COVID-19 study? How is their work reflected in the clinic? Have the vaccines we vaccinated have been evaluated by them?
On April 17th, welcome to Beijing 77 Cultural and Creative Park Theater-77 Theater to listen to Qin Chuan talk about the stories of the heroes behind the scenes of the new crown research.
Producer & Planner: Wu Ou
Editor & Writer: Hawker
Typography: Yin Ningliu
Registration Notice
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Transportation tips
address:
Beijing 77 Theater (in the 77 Cultural and Creative Park, Back Street, Art Museum, Dongcheng District, Beijing)
subway:
Take subway line 8 to exit A of the "National Art Museum of China" station, walk 660 meters north for about 10 minutes
public transit:
Take bus No. 2, 104, 108 to the "Big Buddha Temple" station and walk 75 meters to reach it
Take Bus No. 60, 82, 112, 141 to "Liangguochang" Station and walk 256 meters to arrive
Navigation and positioning: Beijing 77 Theater (77 Cultural and Creative Park, Backstreet, Art Museum, Dongcheng District, Beijing)